Although almost wholly unknown during his brief
lifetime, the painter Vincent Willem van Gogh {van goh}, b. Mar. 30, 1853, is today probably the
most widely known and appreciated representative of postimpressionism. His work became an
important bridge between the 19th and 20th centuries; it was particularly influential in the
evolution of both Fauvism and German expressionism.

"Self Portrait"
by Vincent van Gogh
Musée de l'Impressionisme,
Paris

Van Gogh clearly showed marked artistic talent
even as a child, but neither he nor his family (his father was a Dutch clergyman) imagined that
painting would become his career. Instead, at the age of 16, he went to work for Goupil and
Company, an art gallery with which one of his uncles had long been associated; he was dismissed
in 1876. Other false starts included a job in a Dordrecht bookstore during the spring of 1877,
theological studies at the University of Amsterdam, and, from November 1878 to July 1879, service
as a lay missionary in a coal-mining district in Belgium.

In 1880, Vincent chose art as a vocation and
became dependent on his brother for money. Indeed, for the next 10 years Theo, who had also gone
to work for Goupil, sent an allowance to Vincent, encouraged him to work, and wrote regularly.
Vincent's thinking during his short but prolific career (approximately 750 paintings, 1,600
drawings, 9 lithographs, and 1 etching) is well documented in more than 700 letters that he
wrote to Theo and others.

Van Gogh's early period includes all his work
from 1879 through 1885. Between August 1879 and November 1885 he worked in Etten, The Hague --
where he received some instruction from his cousin, Anton Mauve -- and in Nuenen, among other
places.

In Nuenen he painted The Potato Eaters (1885; Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, Amsterdam),
his first important picture, which underscores his lifelong interest in peasant subjects.

During the winter of 1885-86 van Gogh studied
at the academy in Antwerp, where he was forced to draw from plaster casts and to adopt academic
principles that did not suit him. He moved to Paris, where he lived with Theo.

The Paris period (March 1886-February 1888)
is extremely important because it enabled Vincent to see and to hear discussed the work of
virtually every major artist there. Although van Gogh admired many members of the avant-garde,
he also admired Eugène Delacroix, Jean François Millet, and the painters of the
Barbizon and Hague schools. He respected painters as disparate as Adolphe Monticelli and J. L. E.
Meissonier and such Japanese printmakers as Hiroshige, Hokusai, and Kesai Yeisen. Numerous
self-portraits, still lifes, and cityscapes date from this period, such as Self-Portrait
with a Straw Hat (1887; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City), A Pair of Shoes
(1886; Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh), and Restaurant de la Sirène at Asnieres
(1887; Louvre, Paris). During these years van Gogh's style shifted from the darker manner
characteristic of his Nuenen period to a postimpressionist style heavily influenced by
divisionism (also called pointillism; see Seurat, Georges).

"Still Life with Sunflowers"
by Vincent van Gogh
National Gallery, London

Van Gogh left Paris and moved to Arles in
February 1888. His mature work and many of his most famous paintings date from the ensuing year.
For example, he painted numerous blossoming orchards in the spring of 1888 (Rijksmuseum Vincent
van Gogh), The Night Cafe on the Place Lamartine, Arles (1888; Yale University Art Gallery,
New Haven, Conn.), Still Life with Sunflowers (several versions), and The Bedroom at
Arles (1888; Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh).

In October 1888, Paul Gauguin came to live and
work with van Gogh. After only 2 months, however, following the first of Vincent's attacks of
dementia, in which he amputated his own earlobe, Gauguin left, having first summoned Theo from
Paris. Thereafter, Vincent was hospitalized intermittently until the spring of 1890; he was
voluntarily confined in the Asylum of Saint-Paul in Saint-Remy from May 1889 until May 1890. He
continued to paint, however, and in June 1889 executed the Starry Night (Museum of Modern
Art, New York City) and the extraordinary Self-Portrait (Louvre).

In the three months following his release from
the hospital in May 1890, at the village of Auvers-sur-Oise outside Paris, Vincent produced many
notable works including the Portrait of Dr. Gachet (private collection, New York City),
Field under Thunderclouds, and the famous Crows in the Wheatfields (both Rijksmuseum
Vincent van Gogh).

Although Vincent had finally begun to receive
critical praise, he shot himself on July 27, 1890, and died two days later. His grief-stricken
brother died only six months thereafter.

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